All school children in the Isle of Man are being offered the chance to join in a major campaign by Beach Buddies to reduce the amount of rubbish on the Island’s beaches and encourage recycling.
The charity has linked up with the Department of Education and Children to visit every school on the Island, starting at the beginning of the spring term in January next year.
Beach Buddies is offering a Powerpoint presentation, showing the history of the charity and its activities since beach cleaning sessions started in 2006. In addition, each school will also be offered the chance to take part in a beach cleaning session.
Beach Buddies provides all the equipment such as litterpickers, gloves and bin bags and has full Public Liability Insurance and various levels of Risk Assessments which are currently provided for company events, or for groups like schools, Scouts, Guides and Cubs.
Children will also be shown how Beach Buddies recycles as much as possible of the materials collected on beaches, including plastic bottles, glass, tin cans and metal.
“We have been visiting schools across the Island for some time, but we wanted to organise something more structured,” said Beach Buddies founder Bill Dale.
“Our experience over recent years shows that children who have joined us in beach cleaning sessions go away with a very strong message about the damage that is caused to wildlife and the environment by rubbish.
“We have run sessions for probably more than 50% of the Island’s schools in recent years, but we wanted to spread the message to every single child in the Isle of Man, and we’re grateful to the Department of Education and Children for giving its support.”
Graham Cregeen MHK, Minister for Education and Children, said, “The work schools do with Beach Buddies supports our Essentials for Learning Curriculum in a variety of ways.
“Children are encouraged to be responsible and aware individuals and, by contributing to keeping their Island clean, they become purposeful contributors to Isle of Man society.”
All schools in the Isle of Man have now been contacted, and the first visits by Beach Buddies are planned for mid-January.
